No, Gen. George McClellan, newly appointed head of the Army of the
Potomac, didn’t get married today, but he did go the wedding of
somebody else. The commander in chief who had just named “Little
Mac” to the top job came to call while McClellan was out, and
assuming he would be home shortly, Lincoln, his secretary John Hays,
and Secretary of War Seward decided to wait for him. McClellan
returned after about an hour, was told he had guests waiting, and
went to his room. After waiting another half hour, a servant went to
get McClellan and discovered that he had gone to bed. After this,
when Lincoln wanted a meeting, he scheduled it for the White House.

Thursday Nov. 13 1862SEVERAL SKIRMISHES SORELY SUFFERED

The presence or absence of a railroad, like an interstate highway
connection today, could make or break a town in the 1860’s. To have
a rail intersection, where two or more lines passed through the same
city, made it of considerable military importance, too. It was this
factor that inspired a skirmish in the otherwise little-known hamlet
of Holly Springs, Mississippi today. Federal troops wound up in
possession of the town, rail connections and all. Other minor
actions took place in Sulphur Springs, Va., near Nashville, Tenn.,
and along the coast of Georgia. Bragg decided to relocate the Army
of Tennessee from Chattanooga north towards Murfreesboro, which
would allow him to link up with Breckinridge.

Friday Nov. 13 1863HUNGRY HORSES HINDER HEROICS

Gen. Robert E. Lee and his men had had a rough summer. Heavy action
in the spring, constant movement, finally the desperate move into
Maryland and Pennsylvania culminating in the three days of
Gettysburg. Even after that, movement if not active battle had been
constant. This had been hard on the men of the Army of Northern
Virginia, harder on their supplies and equipment. It had, however,
been hardest of all on the members of the army least able to
protest: the horses and other beasts of burden. Gen. Lee sent a
telegram from Orange Court House, Va., to Jefferson Davis in
Richmond today, imploring him to find a supply of food for the
animals, saying that they had had only three pounds of corn per day
per horse for the last five days. Davis ordered other supplies
delayed until corn could be shipped in.

Sunday Nov. 13 1864EARLY’S EXPEDITION ENDING EARLY

Gen. Jubal Early and his force had been detached from the siege of
Petersburg five months ago and sent North on a mission: scare the
bejeebers out of the Yankees, particularly the ones living in or
near Washington, D.C. The hope was that these alarmed people would
put pressure on the fellow living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to bring
some troops home to protect them. Neither Lincoln nor General of the
Armies U.S. Grant was inclined to oblige him, and now Early’s men
were beginning to be brought back to Richmond for the defense
effort. Early and company had marched nearly 1700 miles and fought
72 battles in this five months, but to no avail. The Shenandoah
Valley now pretty well belonged to Phil Sheridan and his Yankee
cavalry.